Tips & tricks

The planning is done and it’s time to roll out your change initiative. But there’s a problem: your middle managers don’t have the knowledge to answer all the questions they’re going to get and they haven’t taken those first key steps of a change process – going from resistance to engagement.

This happens when middle managers aren’t considered an important target in your change communication. If you’re a manager, it’s simply assumed you’ll jump right on board, you’re loyal to the company and you’ll do whatever it takes to make the company’s strategic initiative happen.

This assumption slams shut a huge opportunity.

Give your middle managers time to take it all in. Help them explore what’s going to be different and let them think through the consequences – before they start getting all the questions. When it comes to driving change, a middle manager that acts like a change leader is your most convincing communication channel.

Why should we? If you have a strong answer to that question you can create both commitment and understanding of the change you’re trying to implement. But why is often forgotten. By constantly leaving out the why, you risk creating a reactive attitude in your organization. Give why its due and it will give you an advantage as a leader. A well thought out why addresses basic human mechanisms like uncertainty, doubt and skepticism. So next time you see a why left out on it’s own – pick it up and take care of it. An engaging answer can make the impossible possible.

Dreaming of change? Our advice: Go slow! ”The Ketchup Effect” illustrates a common trap when change happens too fast. You continue to shake the bottle of change and suddenly it all comes flooding out at once, without proper anchoring with employees. A common mistake often made by leaders of companies, and project organisations, is that they try to move too fast from development into implementation. Involve middle management and key players. Make them ambassadors and secure their engagement. In this way, you can control the flow before unscrewing the bottle.